Festival of Flowers 2013

 

 

Event preparations

Tommorow is the Cinco de Mayo Run and Walk. Today the Square has to be setup to prepare for the runners and walkers who start arriving at 6:30am on Sunday. The setup crew has to put up the tents and tables for registration, vendors and comfort stations. It’s a job that requires a lot of planning and hard work. I thought my readers would like see the preparations that go into preparing the Square for the big event. Thanks for all the hard work guys. Umbrella Man got into the action along with everyone else. There is no limit to his dedication to the success of the events held on the Square.

What's this?

What's this? That’s the question I heard people asking while I was taking photos of this exhibit. The answer: It’s a replica of a newly remodeled guestroom at the River Place Hotel in Portland. My question is who cares? Maybe a blurry-eyed business traveler who just got off MAX from the airport might be interested. I would guess 99% of the people crossing the Square could care less. After taking the photos, I grabbed a cup of Starbucks coffee and watched people approach the exhibit. Most people took a look inside and wandered away. My favorite was a guy in jogging gear, who ran up to the window, took a quick look inside and continued running. River Place Hotel had a webcam setup, so people could watch someone sleeping in the room overnight. I've always wanted to get up in the middle of the night and watch someone sleeping in a Yurt on Pioneer Courthouse Square. For me the trip to the Square wasn’t a total loss, I enjoyed a great cup of coffee in 77 degree sunshine.

Elvis Presley?

While wandering aimlessly around to square the other day, shooting random photographs, I discovered this Elvis Presley brick. I think it’s great we have a brick on the Square dedicated to the “King of Rock and Roll.” Unless, someone else named Elvis Presley bought the brick? It doesn’t seem likely, so I’m going with the dedication thing. Here’s to the “King” and the person who bought the brick.

Famous Squares: Times Square

America’s most famous square is Times Square in the heart of New York City. It’s technically not a square; it’s the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Leisure Magazine say’s its the world’s most visited tourist attraction. An estimated 300,000 people a day visit the square. I think almost everyone has watched the New Year's Eve celebration from Times Square. Thousands upon thousands of people have been photographed kissing on Times Square. The most famous kiss ever photographed was the sailor kissing the nurse on V-J Day, August 14, 1945, taken for Life Magazine by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The photo that appears on this post is the same couple, taken at the same time from a different angle by Victor Jorgensen, a navy photographer. This photo was taken for the U.S. Navy and is not copyrighted. It appeared the following day in the New York Times. 

Times Square on Wikipedia

Photo credits: Victor Jorgensen, Times Square.org, Stamford Advocate

64 degrees

That’s right, it was 64 degrees on Pioneer Courthouse Square today at 4:00 p.m. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and started to worry about heat stroke. Everyone on the Square was enjoying the hot weather. Although, I did hear a couple of people saying it was too warm. The trees are getting ready to bloom and the signs of spring are everywhere. Seriously, it was great to sit in the sunshine and enjoy a cup of Starbucks coffee. We wait a really long time for a day like today.

Square pets

Many people who visit Pioneer Courthouse Square bring their pets along. Since I’ve been doing this blog, I’ve photographed a lot of pets. I’ve never featured them before, because most of them don’t have Facebook pages, and no one will ever see them. However, some may be on Instagram and this post will get more traction. We’ll soon find out!